Pulled in by the Spatial Storm, Zhao Li reacted quickly, tearing open a passage and abandoning the Spatial Boat to leap out alone.
Having been in the pitch-black Spatial Wormhole for so long, as soon as he left the passage, the long-lost sunlight pierced his eyes. Zhao Li blinked reflexively, then felt a sense of weightlessness as he plummeted downwards at high speed.
Zhao Li stabilized himself, not even bothering to tidy up, and quickly left the area. The power of the Spatial Storm left him with lingering fear.
Although Zhao Li had jumped out of the Spatial Wormhole, he was still grazed on the back by Spatial Energy. His clothes were torn, and his back was bloody.
Hundreds of miles away, Zhao Li changed his clothes. His current vitality and physique had long surpassed Magical Beasts of the same level. Although the injury on his back looked terrible, it had already healed; only the bloodstains hadn't been cleaned up.
"What a disaster, a million Gold Coins just gone, like that. And I haven't even reached my destination. Sky's Edge City's service is really lacking."
Zhao Li tidied himself up, recalling the thrilling experience just now, and chuckled to himself, finding humor in his misfortune.
He scanned the surrounding environment. All he could see were endless green mountains, stretching as far as the eye could see. There was no way to tell where he was.
Zhao Li pondered for a moment, then determined a direction. He decided to head south.
Sky's Edge City was in the northwest of the Central Plains. Since he had left halfway, he wouldn't have ended up in the southern region of the Central Plains. This place was likely not yet the Central Plains, so heading south couldn't be wrong.
He walked for two days, and even at Zhao Li's speed, he was still in the mountains.
However, in these two days, Zhao Li had traveled thousands of miles and discovered some unusual things. In such a vast mountain range, he hadn't found any Magical Beasts living there. Even wild animals only appeared occasionally, very rarely.
Such a situation must have been deliberately controlled by someone; otherwise, it wouldn't be like this.
Since there were people, Zhao Li also searched carefully. He would ask where this place was when the time came, so he could make arrangements for the future.
But after two days, Zhao Li had found nothing.
"Sigh~, what kind of ghost place is this?"
For two days, all he saw were mountains and more mountains. Even Zhao Li felt visually fatigued and a bit annoyed. He looked up at the sky, rubbed his face, and let out a long sigh.
After a brief rest and adjusting his mood, Zhao Li set off again.
Suddenly, Zhao Li's gaze narrowed, and he looked to his left, ready for anything.
Just now, the Soul Power Zhao Li had released to scout had been momentarily obstructed, as if it had encountered something. His Spirit Realm Soul Power was something even Dou Sects would avoid.
Zhao Li didn't dare to be careless. He waited for a while and probed several times, but the interference was confined to a small area. This feeling seemed somewhat familiar, but he couldn't recall it for a moment.
After probing several times with no other findings, Zhao Li cautiously walked over.
Soon, a small stone tablet came into Zhao Li's view.
Seeing the words on it, Zhao Li's heart was turbulent, extremely unsettled.
"Soul Hall! This mountain range actually has a Soul Hall branch!"
The words "Soul Hall" were clearly carved on the stone tablet, which emanated a chilling aura—this truly was a 'ghost' place.
Zhao Li remembered that the Soul Hall was divided into the Heavenly Gang Hall and the Earth Fiend Hall, but even within the Earth Fiend Hall, there were Dou Venerates stationed. He didn't dare to linger and quietly retreated.
"Who dares to pry into my Soul Hall?"
A furious roar came, and then a black figure abruptly appeared in front of the stone tablet.
When Zhao Li saw the words "Soul Hall," he had already concealed his aura and quietly left, but he hadn't gone far when he heard the roar and didn't dare to move.
The Soul Hall person had acted on a whim, feeling as though someone was prying, but his sharp gaze swept the surroundings. He only found some residual Spatial Energy but nothing else, which also made him somewhat puzzled.
"Perhaps I'm being overly cautious. It should just be someone passing by. In the Central Plains, no one would dare to provoke my Soul Hall."
Then his figure dissipated, like mist vanishing in sunlight, silently.
The people of the Central Plains referred to them as One Hall, One Tower, Two Sects, Three Valleys, but only those in the Soul Hall understood how terrifying the Soul Hall truly was.
Even just an Earth Fiend branch had at least two Dou Venerates. Just thinking about such strength made him feel terrified. He didn't think the people from the other forces considered to be on the same level as the Soul Hall would provoke the Soul Hall without reason, nor did he think anyone outside of the major forces would have such guts.
...
Seeing someone appear, Zhao Li didn't even look over, his aura suppressed to the extreme. His heart tightened, extremely unsettled.
"As expected, it's a Dou Venerate. If this trip through the Spatial Wormhole hadn't deepened my understanding of Space Rules, I'm afraid I would have had to flee this time."
Zhao Li noted the location and quickly left, no longer probing. He wasn't ready to face the Soul Hall yet.
Upon seeing the stone tablet, Zhao Li already understood that this mountain range must be controlled by the Soul Hall, which explained the earlier anomaly.
Continuing south, after another three days, he finally saw a group of people. Zhao Li inquired about news from them and learned the name of this mountain range—Tianmu Mountain Range.
Thinking that Yao Chen would be imprisoned here in the future story, Zhao Li felt an inexplicable sense of fate.
Zhao Li was unfamiliar with the place, so he simply traveled with the caravan.
"Brother Zhao, after this valley, you'll see Tianxuan City."
After three days of travel, they reached a valley with towering cliffs on both sides, leaving only a passage about three meters wide, just wide enough for carriages to pass.
"There are quite a few Magical Beasts in the mountains on both sides of this valley. If we're unlucky and encounter them, we'll inevitably have a fight and suffer some losses, but this is the only way to enter and leave Tianxuan City, so we have to go this way."
Li Ming said, sighing. It seemed he had encountered Magical Beasts before and suffered significant losses.
*"Screech~"*
A high-pitched eagle cry came. Li Ming's face changed, and he looked up. A male eagle was scanning the valley, as if it would swoop down at any slight disturbance.
Li Ming reacted extremely quickly, stabilized his mind, and began issuing orders.
"Prepare for battle."
Hearing this, everyone adopted a defensive posture and proceeded cautiously.
Zhao Li was somewhat speechless. Perhaps it was an animal's instinct, where the cry of an eagle during a hunt might intimidate prey, but for humans, it seemed to serve no purpose other than alerting the enemy.
Zhao Li didn't want to delay any further. His Soul Power surged towards the eagle.
Li Ming and the others saw the originally majestic eagle inexplicably plummet rapidly, then let out a mournful cry before flying away into the distance.
But everyone dared not be careless and continued to advance cautiously.
Finally, bathed in the setting sun's afterglow, a magnificent city came into view.
At this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"This is Tianxuan City, located in the Northwestern Region of the Central Plains. If Brother Zhao wants to go to the Central Region, you'll need to travel through Spatial Wormholes several times. Why not come to my home as a guest first? Coincidentally, the Spatial Wormhole in Tianxuan City is under my Li Family's charge this year, and I can send you there when the time comes."
Li Ming was a clever and smooth person. From Zhao Li's intentional or unintentional words, he guessed that Zhao Li was an Alchemist.
He was eager to make friends with Zhao Li, and over the past few days, he had gotten quite familiar with him, even calling him brother. Looking at the city before them, he began introducing it to Zhao Li.
Zhao Li thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
Along the way, Zhao Li had also inquired about the Pill Convention from Li Ming. There were still six years until the next competition, which was plenty of time, so there was no need to rush.
"Then I thank Brother Li very much."
Zhao Li cupped his hands towards Li Ming in gratitude.
Zhao Li followed the caravan into Tianxuan City. The city was bustling with people coming and going, extremely prosperous.
Everyone couldn't help but smile and relax. The lively atmosphere within the city seemed to wash away some of the dust from their journey.
After entering the city, Zhao Li sent out his Soul Power, then quickly retracted it.
But in that short moment, Zhao Li discovered several Dou Sect level auras.
Is this the Central Plains? Even in the northwestern area, there are still experts everywhere.
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