Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

As the giant red tree that seemed like a pillar of heaven and the magnificent Cultivation City gradually came into view,

aside from Chen Li who had been once before and had grown accustomed to it, the rest were all gaping in amazement, their faces a picture of shock.

As the regional center of the barren west, the only Nascent Soul major sect.

The hustle and bustle of this place needed no further elaboration.

Various models of colossal flying boats were flying overhead from time to time, heading towards Red Pillar City or flying to all directions from the city. Cultivators practicing flight with instrument control filled the sky like dense schools of fish, weaving in and out.

Compared to Red Pillar City, Luoluo City was nothing more than a poor and remote small town.

As they got a bit closer, Chen Li controlled the flying boat to land in an open area. After packing up the flying boat, the group proceeded on foot and soon blended into the crowd on the main road.

When they reached the city gate, Chen Li paid an entry fee of six low-grade Spirit Stones.

"Where to next?" Zhou Hong asked.

"First, let’s find an inn to stay and eat, rest for a couple of days, and then slowly look for a house. It would be best to buy one if possible, though renting is also an option." Having just come into a fortune, Chen Li spoke with a certain financial swagger.

With the Spirit Stones he had on hand, buying a decent courtyard house should still be affordable.

Chen Li, who knew his way around, chose the inn he stayed in last time and took two rooms.

The unspoken implication was naturally that the three maidservants would share one room.

Chen Li and the other two would stay in another.

After all, this way was more economical!

Zhang Shuniang’s face blushed as she lowered her head to look at her toes, too embarrassed to utter a word.

"So expensive!" Zhou Hong feigned calm and tugged at Chen Li’s arm, "We don’t actually need to stay somewhere this nice; it’s just a place to rest."

"This is a Third Order spiritual place, where everything is costly. Inns here are generally this price. Don’t worry about the Spirit Stones; I have it under control," he assured.

Inns here usually provided both accommodation and food.

However, the cost of the meals was not included in the room charges.

Chen Li ordered a table full of dishes, with several prepared from Second Order spiritual materials.

Bai Wei and the other maidservants were filled with anxiety but refused to join the table regardless, forcing the waiter to divide a portion for them to eat back in their room.

The culinary methods here were vastly different from those in Luoluo City. The dishes were more refined, and the flavors completely distinct. It appeared that special secret techniques were used in cooking, offering a rich taste with clear layers, allowing each bite to reveal the changes between several flavors.

One could say that apart from being relatively expensive, there were no flaws at all!

...

After lunch,

Chen Li accompanied the two women for a stroll through the city.

As it turned out, even female cultivators, being women first and foremost, shared a universal love for shopping across both worlds.

And they had even better stamina and more exuberance.

Zhou Hong and Zhang Shuniang walked arm in arm, chatting and laughing, whispering to each other about novel sights, and bursting into laughter from time to time.

The two women, alluring and attractive, drew plenty of lecherous stares wherever they went.

"From here, you can’t quite sense the scale of that big tree. Once we get closer, you’ll see just how huge it really is."

Chen Li said, pointing to the fiery red giant tree with a chuckle.

"Can we really get a closer look at it?"

Zhang Shuniang’s eyes twinkled excitedly, just short of hopping with excitement like a little girl.

Chen Li found this amusing. She was always the happiest when they went out. It was hardly surprising; she had been confined by her father to a small room from a young age and had rarely been allowed to step outside. It was easy to understand how much she longed for outings, a desire that continued to this day.

"Of course, and it’s even more beautiful at night!"

The women had been out since noon, playing until nightfall, and made a special trip to see the giant tree. When they returned, they were still brimming with excitement.

Chen Li had lived here for nearly a month before, but apart from being familiar with a few auction houses in the city, he hadn’t actually explored as much as he had that afternoon.

...

In the evening.

Afterward!

Looking at the two women who were enjoying their spring sleep, exposed to the balmy spring light, Haitang and the other.

Chen Li tossed and turned, unable to sleep as the tragic images of his sect members’ deaths repeatedly surfaced in his mind no matter what.

He had traveled from Luanluo Mountain to Red Pillar City and was then preparing to settle down here.

He thought he was ready, but in fact, he was not.

During his time in the Returning True Sect, with the old ancestor there, he had someone to rely on in times of crisis, and coupled with numerous fellow sect members, he felt somewhat reassured. But now, drifting to this unfamiliar place with his wife and concubines, it didn’t seem so dire during the day; however, in the still of the night, the feelings of loneliness and insecurity quietly surfaced.

Back in the Returning True Sect, it was rare to see a Golden Core cultivator.

But here, where there was an assorted mix of people, Golden Core cultivators were seen frequently.

"Once I find a residence, I’ll set up the ’Wu Earth Bright Light Array’..." Chen Li pondered to himself:

"But wouldn’t that be a bit too conspicuous?"

A third-order, medium-grade Array, with arcane mana and densely packed Qi.

It didn’t have the function to "conceal Qi."

After all, the Array had originally been used in the scripture vault to deter the unrighteous, so such a function was unnecessary.

This meant that even when the Array was half-activated,

Anyone with even a bit of understanding of Formation Arrays could tell at a glance that it was extraordinary.

Such a high-grade Array would make even the average Golden Core cultivator envious; if its owner were just a Foundation Establishment cultivator, it would be akin to a child holding gold—anyone who saw it would be tempted to snatch it away.

Although the Array was powerful, and more than capable of defending against a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator, if lucky, and if the opponent was careless, even killing them was not out of the question.

But he couldn’t always stay within the Array; he had to leave the house eventually.

Whether he lived or died then would be out of his hands.

Yet, not using it felt wrong too.

If some insurmountable danger occurred, he would be completely defenseless! 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

It was truly a dilemma.

"I wonder if covering it with a second-order, low-grade ’Yin Yang Five Elements Gathering Spirit Array’ could serve as a disguise?" Chen Li suddenly had an idea.

Since he couldn’t sleep anyway,

Chen Li simply got dressed and got up.

He took out the jade slip with the detailed explanation of the "Wu Earth Bright Light Array" from his storage bag, deciding to study how to arrange the Array first.

This jade slip was found in Ji Kai’s personal storage bag, along with four deputy control tokens for the Array that could be used to allow simple entrance and exit.

This saved him a great deal of trouble, otherwise just figuring out how to set up the Array would have been enough to give him a headache.

Since the self-refinement of his brain, both his thinking speed and memory had improved significantly. He remembered clearly where each Array instrument should be placed, the specific positions, and the distances between them.

But not to mention the saying "a miss is as good as a mile," just the flow of Spiritual Power, the undulations of the terrain, and the City Defense Array made them utterly different.

Especially the City Defense Array above Red Pillar City.

The presence of this Array ordered the chaotic Spiritual Power of Red Pillar City’s Spirit Vein, creating a stable flow.

Wanting to set up an Array within the city would mean conforming to the flow of spiritual energy and compatibility with the City Defense Array, rather than going against them.

What consequences it could lead to aside,

Even if he could barely succeed in setting it up,

Who knew how much of its power could be unleashed?

Chen Li suppressed the chaotic thoughts in his mind and calmed himself, immersing his Spiritual Sense into the jade slip.

Soon, a massive amount of information surged into his mind.

By the time Chen Li finished digesting the content of the jade slip, his head was beginning to throb slightly.

"This is much more complex than the Yin Yang Five Elements Gathering Spirit Array; looks like I’ll need to study it thoroughly before I can actually start building it!" Chen Li massaged his brow and thought to himself.

Fortunately, he now had the entire scripture vault of the Returning True Sect, and there was no shortage of books related to Formation Arrays.